Best Handgun for Horseback

Russell wrote and asked: "Thanks for the information you have been writing. Don't think I found anything to disagree with. I have been riding for 45+ years and carried a handgun or rifle most of it moving cattle up in mountains and checking fence. I never thought about training my horses to accept gunfire. I now have a pretty broke six year old. I have a .22 revolver and a .30-30 winchester. If I need to get another pistol I will since I ain't fond of thinking of running into anything with four feet and fangs with the .22. What would you suggest for a decent pistol? Your articles and videos are probably good enough for me to get started. Thanks. Russell."

Russell, it looks like you may be in Mountain Lion or Grizzly country. A big bore revolver would be my preference. This means a .44 Magnum, which can also shoot .44 Special, or a .45 Long Colt (LC).  When I was a Conservation Law Enforcement Officer riding up into the mountains looking for poachers or archeological thieves, I did not feel under gunned carrying a double action revolver in .357 Magnum, but I had about as much chance of running into a Grizzly Bear as a smelly, toothless hog farmer has in finding a date for Saturday night.  I would not trust my life or my horse's life to a .357 Magnum if you are riding in Grizzly country. 

The advantage of a .45 Long Colt is, that thanks to the sport of Mounted Shooting, .45 LC blanks are readily available for training. This allows you to train your horse to gunfire at a reduced noise and muzzle concussion. If you have priced handgun ammunition recently then you see that as another reason.

A disadvantage of a handgun in the .45 LC caliber is that most of these on the market are single action, Colt Peacemaker type replicas. While these are great guns, they are single action. Meaning you have to cock the hammer for each shot....takes more than a little practice to do so reliable and quickly. You could get lucky and find a double action revolver in .45 LC. The more common one's would be a Smith and Wesson Model 25, Colt Anaconda, Ruger Redhawk, Dan Wesson and I think Smith and Wesson also makes what they call a Mountain Gun which is a slicked up Model 25 in stainless steel I believe, which they call the M625. As common as these guns once were, it'll be somewhat hard and maybe even more expensive to find one.  Double action revolvers are much faster to re-load as well using several different types of speed loaders. 

I always start shooting .45 LC blanks about 60 to 80 feet away while the horse's are eating. I fire one round. The horses will spook or flinch. Then they go back to eating. I fire another round. They flinch less and so I keep this up until I can shoot several blanks in succession and they ignore it. I move closer and repeat. The hay helps relax them, as horses mostly eat only when they are relaxed or feel safe. And if they leave, let them. Wait for them to come back to the feed and start again.

The pause between fired rounds serves to let the horse think about the stimulus and figure out that he doesn't need to run. The pause may be several minutes in some cases. But it will get shorter.

When I move to shooting while the horse is in a halter, I give the horse some slack in the lead line, stand with my back to him and shoot to the front using my body to break up and diminish the concussion wave and noise a bit. He'll most likely spook somewhat, so I let him settle before I repeat. I'll talk to the horses and rub on them during this pause. Soon enough the horse is settled and I begin again sometimes just cocking the hammer a few times as they will learn that this noise precedes the loud bang. I'll also shoot from the side of the horse away from him and towards his rear obliques.

When you are shooting from his back, use the same concept. Be sure to fire away from his head. Using the clock method. If the horse's head, or really his body, is pointing at 12 o'clock, then it helps to start shooting blanks at the 5 o'clock direction if you're right handed, or the 7 o'clock direction if your left handed. This will reduce the concussion the horse will feel from gas escaping the cylinder gap and from the muzzle, as well as the noise and allow him to get used to.  The pictures above, from Left to Right, are showing shooting from the one o'clock, three o'clock and five o'clock positions.

I would not shoot near the horse's head, say from the 10 o'clock to the 2 o'clock position. This needlessly sends gas and unburned powder from the cylinder gap and the muzzle too close to the horse's head, ears and eyes.

Hope this helps Russell. I think you'll do fine if you take your time. I'd like to hear about your progress. Safe journey.

Fly Spray and Gun Training Questions

LadyM wrote: "I do not want to use a chemical fly spray on my horse. Do you know of a natural type of horse spray that is effective?"

I have tried two natural fly sprays as I have an older horse who breaks out in black bumps when I use a Permethrin based fly spray on him. The natural products I have tried are Vinegar and Water and the other was a commercial product called Marigold Spray (made from Marigold flowers I assume). Neither were as effective as I would have liked. The Marigold Spray was probably more effective and you did not have to put up with that vinegar smell. Marigolds are the type of flower you are supposed to plant around your plants as a barrier for rabbits, however the rabbits out here in West Texas don't care if it's Marigold flowers or toxic waste,...it won't keep them from eating about anything they want.

An additional product which I have used, on that older horse who will not tolerate permethrins, is called M-T-G. This stands for Mane-Tail-Groom which is a sulfur based liquid intended for things like fungus control to fly bites. It actually works pretty well as a fly repellant. Although you have to put up with the smell. I wrote an article about using MTG earlier. You can find it here. I think an overall fly control strategy must also consider good manure management, use of fly traps and possibly fly predators. Previous article on natural fly sprays.


Josh wrote: "First of all thanks for a great site! I'm gun training my horse right now and he is doing really good. I noticed you started with a larger caliber than I'm using. Am I messing up by starting with the 22 round? Day one he continues eating when I fire within a few feet. I plan to work him up to my 1894 30-30 for white tail."

Josh, thanks for writing and your comments. I started with a larger caliber, .45 Long Colt, because blanks for that caliber are available. This negates the need to be concerned with where a projectile is landing. I think you can use live rounds in practically any caliber as long as you are safe with the impact zone of the projectile. When I was a Conservation Law Enforcement Officer, I fired live .357 magnum rounds, while on horseback, into a cardboard target in front of a mesquite berm with a safe area in back of that.

There is a danger called "sympathetic response". This is where one hand involuntarily closes or tightens on something, such as a gun grip and trigger, when the other hand (the off hand) also closes or tightens on something like the reins. I would think that if you can rope,…meaning throw a loop with one hand and control the rope coil and reins with the other hand, then you probably can be safe enough to shoot multiple shots off horseback.

Just remember the universal gun safety rules,.....1 – Guns are always loaded until you physically determine they are not, 2 – Finger stays off the trigger until you are sure of your target and intend to shoot, 3 – Do not point a gun at anything you are not willing to destroy, 4 – Be sure of your target and anything that may be close to your gun to target line – this includes what may be in back of your target. I am sure you are aware that the noise generated by a center fire rifle caliber, like a .30-30, is going to be substantially louder and cause more concern to your horse. Good luck and safe journey Josh.